Lean Manufacturing

To get the most out of value stream mapping, it's critical to understand what a value stream actually is.  Most people make the mistake of thinking small when it comes to their value stream mapping exercises.  You should do just the opposite.  You need to make a map of your entire process, from natural resource to consumer.

Whoa! What do you mean?  If you want to truly unlock the potential of a value stream map, then try this next time you perform a mapping exercise.

Always start at the end and move towards the beginning:

Start with your consumer, and trace back every single action that took place in order for them to receive their product.  Include retailers, distributors, manufacturers, suppliers, and yes even how the natural resources used to make the product were processed. You'll be amazed at what you find out.

In order to keep things pretty simple, and not end up writing a whole book on mapping, I'm going to break down a value stream map into three critical components.

The Flow of Information

I'm willing to bet if you sat down and tried to map the flow of information that takes place between the time an order is placed, and the time the consumer receives the product, you couldn't do it. It's almost impossible for one person to do it.  So in order to understand the flow, you need all the key players in the room.

Force participation%u2026 you need to understand everything.  Don't worry about what's adding value or what's necessary.  Just get it all down on paper.

The Process Steps

Remember the scope of our map?  Guess what, knowing all of those process steps are going to take a ton of effort and a lot of people.  You will need reps from retailers, suppliers, etc. It will be a big event.  However, the payoff might just be huge.  It could result in cost reductions for everyone involved.  Possibly shorter lead times, less inventory, etc.  Use these points to sell them on the idea. It's not going to be easy but anything worth doing rarely is.

Once all the players are in the room, document all the process steps fully.  Understand the lead times, how they are interconnected, start to lay the information flow on top of them.  If done right, you will end up with a visual representation that anyone can understand. You will know exactly what it takes to get your product from natural resource to consumer.

Identify the Waste

The third step is really where the rubber meets the road.  Value stream mapping seems like a fun exercise until you realize the amount of work that ends up as an output. But that's where the money is. This is where you need to think big. Don't think about how you can cut a single day off of a lead time; think about how you can shorten it by 90%.  Think big, get big%u2026 Think small, get small%u2026

It's impossible for me to detail all the ways to do this, but the thing to remember is it's all about problem solving.  As long as you have good problem solvers, you can be successful in this step.  Get creative, get the right people involved, and don't think for a second that you can't cut a tremendous amount of waste out of your value stream.

Create and Execute the Plan

Once you've identified what you're going to do, put pen to paper and make a plan.  Then execute it. Incorporate it into people's standard work.  Hold regular accountability meetings, and follow your specific process for executing a plan.

Doing these seemingly simply, but monumental tasks it what it takes to be world class.  So ask yourself... do you want to be just good enough or... world class?

When used correctly leader standard work is a powerful tool.  It allows lean manufacturing leaders at all levels to stay focused on the activities that drive performance, maintain standards, and keep their processes in control.  At least that what it does if it's done right.

You need to be careful when developing the tool, however.  In many cases it ends up being nothing more than a checklist of what a leader is doing when they create it.  And therein lies the danger.

Here's what happens in a typical scenario.  Folks decide to use leader standard work, and the first thing they do is make a list of everything they do in a given day, week, month, etc.  There list ends up looking a lot like this...

6am-7am - Make production and staffing schedule

7am - 8am - Check email and voice mail

8am - 9am - Staff meeting

9am - 10am - Floor time

10am - 11am - Payroll adjustments

11am - 12pm - Lunch

12pm - 1pm - Reports for boss

1pm - 2pm - Check email and voice mail

2pm-3pm - End of shift paperwork

Now obviously this is a generalization, but in general this is the kind of list people will come up with if left to their own devices.  So my question is, what on this is worthwhile, what adds value, and is this really how you want leaders to spend their time?

It's my opinion that effective leader standard work should be designed to ensure that their subordinates standard work is being executed correctly.  That means being on the floor, understanding what their folks are supposed to do, the standards they should be meeting, and immediately addressing any deviation from the standards. This kind of fundamental to the success of your Lean Manufacturing efforts

An important part of this process includes a regular review of the standard work.  It should be taken as an opportunity for the supervisor and subordinate to discuss what's working, what isn't, etc.  Is there a reason certain portions of the standard work aren't being completed?  If so, it's time to problem solve that and get it resolved.

It's fine to put routine tasks that must be completed on the standard work sheet, just don't fall in the trap of thinking of it as a checklist of routine tasks.  It needs to include more than that.

Some other things to consider including.  Daily coaching sessions that are reviewed by a supervisor.  Focused Gemba walks to observe a current problem.  Focused continuos  improvement activities that drive key performance metrics.

If you'll consider using leader standard work in these ways, you'll likely see a tremendous amount of benefit.  Those benefits are numerous.  Rather than write a book on the matter, I thought I'd just suggest the best one I've read on the subject.

The David Mann book up in the amazon section in this lens is an exceptional resource.  It's info on leader standard work is the best I've read, plain and simple.  The book is full of other great info on lean as well.  It's worth 10 times the price easily.  I'd recommend getting a copy for everyone on your staff or in your department.  You can literally use it change your lean culture and make great progress in a short amount of time.

I'll apologize upfront.  This is going to be long.  I'm sort of tired of all the academic nonsense out there with regards to 5S.  So rather than complain, I'm creating a guide that is based on real life rather than what I read in some book.  By the end of the guide you'll be armed with enough fire power to really make a difference with 5S, instead of just making your boss happy.  Let's get started...

What 5S is and is not

Most people think that 5S is an exercise to get a workspace organized.  Those are the people that fail in their implementations.  Real 5S, the that works years after the "project" is done is all about problem solving.  Here's the best way I know to describe the point I'm trying to get across.

Scenario A: A Lean manufacturing consultant is hired to 5S a manufacturing plant.  An area is arbitrarily chosen, training is done, and the next thing you know you have a shadow board for tools, painted squares on the ground for where the trash cans go, and a nicely organized cabinet for supplies.  Sounds good, right?

On the surface it is; however, in most cases no real problem was solved.  People knew where the trash can was, they had a spot for their tools, and the cabinet, while unsightly was organized enough so they could find things.

Scenario B: A Lean consultant is hired to 5S a maintenance parts room.  Mechanics are spending on average 15 minutes trying to find parts.  They are frustrated, operators are frustrated, management is frustrated, you get the idea.  The Lean consultant follows a similar path as in Scenario A, only this time the solutions are focused on solving the problem of mechanics not being able to find parts.

The result?  Organized shelves, shadow boards for tools, and squares painted on the ground for trash cans.  Only in this scenario everyone sees how it benefits them personally and the organization.  So guess what, you could come back in five years and this area will still be 5S'd.
The Nuts And Bolts
This section will provide all the basic information on what each of the 5S's are, and how to apply them successfully in your implementation.  You will see each of the S's called something different depending on the author.  However, the idea is the same so don't get hung up on the names.

The First S - Sort

The first thing you have to do is sort the area your working on.  It's here that a lot of folks make a critical mistake.  So I'll make sure you don't do that!

Start this process by getting everyone who uses the area involved.  It's really important that you do this.  And then basically you want to remove everything you possibly can from the area.  I recommend putting it into 3 piles.  Use regularly, Use Rarely, Don't know why that's here.

Critical Mistake #1: Not removing things that clearly belong in the area.  Things like tables, paperwork stands, etc. Make sure anything that be removed, is.

Critical Mistake #2: Spending time arguing over which pile something belongs in.  Make

sure the folks from the area are the ones making decisions.  However, it's really helpful to have clearly defined guidelines for what Use Regularly, Use Rarely mean.  If everyone agrees that being used daily is regularly, then most of these differences are easily handled.  But the reason not to worry about this is we'll take care of it in another step.

Once you have everything in the 3 agreed upon piles it's to do a little administrative work.  The easy part is the "Don't know why that's here pile".  If something is clearly trash, throw it away, put it in the scrap metal pile, etc.  Just make sure it doesn't linger in the area.

If there's anything in the pile that another area might be able to use, it's going to have to be "Red Tagged" which I'll get to in just a second.

Now it's time to deal with the "Use Rarely" pile.  This is where a lot of folks get hung up.  If you defined what rarely means earlier, then hopefully most will agree that these things don't belong in the work area.  But I assure the folks that work in the area will want to keep them around.  That's why a lot of these items will have to be Red Tagged as well.  I promise I'm getting to the whole "red tagging" shortly.

Next there is the "Use Regularly" pile.  The key point here is question everything in this pile.  Make sure it's really used regularly.  Everything in this pile will be put back into the work area, so be diligent here.

The Red Tag Program

The idea behind a red tag program is essentially to have a way to inventory and control the things you remove from a work area.  You will inevitably have things that are removed that have to go back, and you will have things that are later found to be unnecessary.  It's also a great way to centralize efforts between areas so things can be reused.

Red Tag Basics:

You should literally apply a tag to every item in your designated red tag area.  The tag should include some basic information.  What the item is, an inventory number, the date it entered the area, who put it there, and what area it came from.

You need someone to be the gate keeper for this process.  As items move into and out of this area, the inventory needs to be updated, and every add and subtract needs to be questioned.

Establish a maximum amount of time an item can be in the area.  I recommend 30 days.  At the end of 30 days the item is either thrown away, scrapped, etc.  Do not let your red tag area become a dumping ground.

That's the basics of a red tag program.  If you do these things, you'll be on your way to an effective red tag program.

Once you've completed all the steps discussed so far, you're done with the first S - Sort.  It's time to move on to the second step.

The Second S - Set

This is the fun part... If you make it fun.  As long as you've done a good job sorting, this part is easy, helps the folks that work in the area, and can generate a lot of positive momentum in general.

The number one thing to remember here is you are trying to create an OPTIMAL work environment for the people that use the area.  So, every single thing that you place back into the work area must be done with that in mind.  Why is that fun?  Because you can do some really creative things to make people's work area better.

Examples:
Shadow Boards
[caption id="attachment_239" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="5S Shadow Board"][/caption]

Picture by jfi.ch
Work Area Organization:
[caption id="attachment_240" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="5S Workplace Organization"][/caption]

Picture by Rubbermaid Products

The above photos just reinforce the idea behind Set.  Make the workspace more productive by having a place for everything, and everything in it's place.  Take it a step further by making that place one that makes the work area more productive.

That's really all there is to the Set in 5S.  It's time to move on to the third S.

The Third S - Shine

The shine stage is all about making the work area, well, shine.  Clean everything from top to bottom.  Repaint what needs to be painted, take off peeling stickers and replace with new if necessary.  Evaluate the area's lighting.  The idea here is that we all feel better when things are orderly, clean, and bright.  Work is no different.

This is also a good time to fix things like air and water leaks, messy cabling, etc.  Basically anything that you've been putting off, now is the time to get it done.

Not a whole more to say here.  Just get the elbow grease ready and shine up the area!

The Fourth S - Standardize

Now it's time for the real work to start.  You see, in the beginning everyone will be eager to keep things as planned in the first three steps.  But over time it's natural for people to fall back into their old ways.  That's why it's critical to standardize the critical components of your 5S implementation.  Here's some helpful ways to do it without making people pull their hair out.

Clearly mark where things go.  You can paint on the floor, use labels, shadow boards, etc.  It should be obvious to anyone who walks in the area what goes where.

Take pictures of the way things are supposed to look and post them in the area (fyi - this makes the 5th S much easier).

Clearly define who's responsible for an area and what they are responsible for doing.

The Fifth S - Sustain

Sustain the improvements is always harder than making them in the first place.  5S is no different.  Of all the 5S initiatives I see, folks have the hardest time with sustaining.  Just take a walk around any plant. You can almost be certain to find labeling that's no longer applicable. Markings on the floor that no longer are a placeholder for anything, etc.

So do yourself a favor... Commit to sustaining your improvements before you start.  I'll provide some examples of how to do it, but if everyone involved is not committed you will fail.